Auxiliary lifter arm for presser foot on sewing machines



June 11, 1963 A. c. FOLTIS ETAL 3,0

AUXILIARY LIFTER ARM FQKPREssER FOOT on SEWING MACHINES Filed July 11,1960 I6 I l3 2. Z 'INVEN'EORS' Z0 ANESTIS c FOLHS MARTIN KRAFT 27 BYATTOR United States Patent r 3,093,101 AUXILIARY LIFTER ARM FOR PRESSERFOOT 0N SEWING MACHINES Anestis C. Foltis, New York, N. (40-40 HamptonSt., Jackson Heights, Long Island, N.Y. and Martin Kraft, New York,N.Y., (2427 64th St., Brooklyn, FLY.)

Filed July 11, 1960, Ser. No. 41,853 2 Claims. (Cl. 112-237) Ourinvention relates to an improvement in arms for momentarily lifting thepresser foot that engages the cloth on a sewing machine, so as tofacilitate adjustments of the cloth while it is being stitched, and thenallow the presser foot to be quickly dropped back to its regularoperating position.

The conventional sewing machine is constructed with a head in which theneedle operating rod or spindle and the rod or bar carrying the presserfoot at one end, are mounted for vertical movement. The presser footnormally held down by a compression spring, can be lifted by means of anarm at one side of the head and held up by the end of the arm until itis again released when the arm is moved back to its starting position.However, on many occasions the presser foot need be lifted for only abrief instant to enable the operator to shift slightly the cloth that isbeing stitched, and the regular arm provided for this purpose is soconnected to the presser foot rod that it is not well adapted to raiseand lower this rod for the quick adjustments that are frequently needed.

The principal object of our invention is to equip the operating head ofa sewing machine with an auxiliary lifter arm by which the presser footrod can be more quickly raised and lowered when fabric is beingstitched, and thus time is saved and the operator of the machine isenabled to turn out more work in a given period.

Another object of this invention is to provide such an auxiliary lifterarm that can be readily combined with the rods or spindles carrying theneedle and the presser (foot, and yet require only small additions tothe general construction.

The objects and advantages of the invention are fully set forth in theensuing specification and the novel features are defined in the appendedclaims. The drawings illustrate several embodiments of the invention,but various changes in structural details may of course be made withoutdeparture or material alteration of the main design in which theinvention resides.

On the drawings:

-FIGURE 1 is a front view of the operating head of a sewing machine inwhich the needle operating bar or rod and the presser foot bar or rodare vertically mounted, with the presser foot rod operably by the lifterarm of our invention.

FIGURE 2 shows in side view another form of auxiliary arm for liftingthe presser foot.

Referring first to FIGURES 1 and 2, the numeral 1 indicates the head ofa sewing machine, which is at one end of a horizontal casting, notshown; and is hollow, or shaped with a recess 2 surrounded by a rim 3.The operating rod 4 for the needle at its lower end and the rod 5 withthe presser foot 6 at its lower end are both mounted for verticalmovement in bores at the lower part of the head 1. This head receiveswithin it one end of the operating shaft 7, which is rotated by a motoror other actuating means not shown on the drawings. On the extremity ofthe shaft 7 within the head 1 is a fixed disk 8 connected by a link 9pivoted thereto and united by a pivot pin 10 to a fixed sleeve orbushing 11 on the rod 4; and as the shaft 7 turns, the disk 8 rotatesPatented June 11, 1963 "ice and the needle shaft 3 is raised and loweredto make stitching strokes.

The rod 5 carrying the presser foot 6 has a fixed head or projection 12mounted thereon, and this projection is engaged by a cam 13 on an arm 14pivoted to the head 1 on a pin 15. By using the first finger on the lefthand to raise the arm 14, the operator facing the head 1 can always liftthe presser foot rod 6 moving the arm 14 outward and upward so that thecam edge will move on the pin 15 and lift the rod 5. Part of the edge 16of the cam does the lifting, and the remaining part 17 of the edge ofthe cam holds the rod 5 elevated until the arm 14 is depressed. A spring18 encircling the rod between the projection 12 and the top of the headtends to depress the rod 5. FIGURE 1 depicts the arm 14 in readiness toelevate the rod 5.

For many adjustments of the cloth on the machine, which is being sewed,it is necessary to keep the rod 5 lifted for a definite interval; and tolower it, the arm 14 must be turned down to release the rod 5. But whenan adjustment of the cloth is small and may be quickly made,considerable time would be lost over an extended period if the arm 14were relied upon very often for this purpose. Therefore, in order to beable to make minor adjustments of the cloth more quickly, we connect tothe arm 14 near the cam 13 an auxiliary arm 19 which extends down andthen to the right behind the rods 4 and 5. The end of this arm 19 mayhave a knob or be otherwise shaped so that it can be easily engaged bythe operator and depressed, but only far enough to move the arm 19 downto a point Where the rod 5 will be lifted to a slight extent, so thatthe cam 13 will be moved over only part of its range; and when the arm19 is released, the spring 18 which encircles the rod 5 will immediatelyforce the rod 5 downward and cause the presser foot 6 to resume itsoperating position. To actuate the arm 19, the operator of the machinepresses down on the free end of the arm 19, and may very convenientlyuse the thumb of the left hand for this purpose. The arm 19 can beafiixed to the arm 14, for example, by Welding.

FIGURE 2 shows an arm 20 which has one end so bent at 21 that it can bemade to grip the arm 14 and be secured thereon by a binding screw 22.This arm 20 will be located as before behind the two rods 4 and 5 and isunder the head 1, extending to the right, and will serve the same endsas the arm 19.

It will be seen from the drawings that when the operator wishes to raisethe rod 5 with the arm 14, the fingers of the left hand can be used. Ifthe arm 14 is not to be lifted and the auxiliary arm is required, thethumb on the left hand of the operator can engage its auxiliary arm andlower it.

Having described my invention, what we believe to be new is:

1. A head for a sewing machine having a pair of vertically movable rodsmounted therein, one of said rods carrying a presser foot for engagingcloth to be sewed on the machine, and the other rod being adapted tobear a needle, an arm on said head for raising the rod having thepresser foot, and a second arm mounted adjacent the first-named arm andconnected thereto for lifting the presser foot, one of said arms beingat one side of the said rods and the second-named arm extending behindsaid rods to the other side thereof.

2. A head for a sewing machine having a pair of vertically movable rodsmounted therein, one of said rods carrying a presser foot for engagingcloth to be sewed on the machine, and the other rod being adapted tobear a needle, an arm on said head for raising the rod having 3 thepresser foot, and a second arm mounted adjacent the first arm forlifting the presser foot, one of said arms being at one side of saidrods and the second-named arm extending behind said rods to the otherside thereof, the second-named arm being affixed to the first-named 5arm.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSOpacity Mar. 2, Taft Aug. 7, Wenzel June 3, Kaier July 29,

Ayres May 27,

1. A HEAD FOR SEWING MACHINE HAVING A PAIR OF VERTICALLY MOVABLE RODSMOUNTED THEREIN, ONE OF SAID RODS CARRYING A PRESSER FOOT FOR ENGAGINGCLOTH TO BE SEWED ON THE MACHINE, AND THE OTHER ROD BEING ADAPTED TOBEAR A NEEDLE, AN ARM ON SAID HEAD FOR RAISING THE ROD HAVING THEPRESSER FOOT, AND A SECOND ARM MOUNTED ADJACENT THE FIRST-NAMED ARM ANDCONNECTED THERETO FOR LIFTING THE PRESSER FOOT, ONE OF SAID ARMS BEINGAT ONE SIDE OF THE SAID RODS AND THE SECOND-NAMED ARM EXTENDING BEHINDSAID RODS TO THE OTHER SIDE THEREOF.